Maddie

Maddie, a young female Human, grew up in a small walled-off town on the barren planet of Prine. One early morning, she was farming outside the gates of the community with her brother, Yan, when a group of slavers attacked. Unable to get within the protection of the town's walls, her brother was killed, while she was captured and put in chains.

Sixteen days later, the caravan came across another Human female, Ember Chankeli, who hailed the group, thinking them to be friendly beings. Chankeli was quickly surrounded, captured, and chained beside Maddie. The two did not speak, with Chankeli giving Maddie nothing but angry glares for some time. Soon, Chankeli became tired of her treatment, and decided that her past experiences with slavers would allow her to deal with them. She alerted a guard that she desired water and blankets, though Maddie begged her not to say anything. Chankeli ignored her and continued to berate the guard, who responded by smacking her in the face with the butt of his blaster rifle. Chankeli was shocked by the attack, but Maddie begged her not to give up hope. She laid down beside the fallen woman and held her, placing her hand within Chankeli's. Though Chankeli was surprised by such kindness and said nothing, she grasped Maddie's hand for comfort.

During the next day, Maddie told Chankeli the story of how she came to be enslaved. Chankeli remarked that her capture coincided with her ship's crash landing, and Maddie excitedly asked her how many were aboard. Chankeli began to tell her about her friend, revealing that if he could find them he'd rescue them, but that they'd surely traveled too far by now. Maddie couldn't believe that one man could stand against all the slavers around them, but Chankeli disagreed, yet didn't reveal the truth behind her words.

When the slavers' captain discovered that Chankeli had been struck and bruised, he murdered the offending guard with his blaster pistol. Just then, a disturbance from the rear of the caravan caused the slavers to regroup and attack. Unknown to both women, Chankeli's friend, the fugitive Jedi Knight Dass Jennir, had indeed been following their trail, and now was assaulting the slavers with both his blaster and his lightsaber. Maddie asked Chankeli what was happening, and the older woman began to smile, saying that when she'd told Maddie that they were out of Jennir's reach, she had been wrong.

Maddie was created for the winner of the Wine and Roses Benefit for the Athletics department at Portland State University. Fourteen-year-old Madison Porter's grandfather won the auction for her to appear in a Dark Horse comic book, and though nothing more than a brief appearance was promised, Randy Stradley wanted to make her character a substantial one. Working with artist Douglas Wheatley, the two created a character that spanned the majority of the Dark Times: Out of the Wilderness story arc, and in the process changed the outcome of the arc altogether.